For any packaged files (in my case full magazine issues), that have been finalized and moved to a backup drive, cloud storage, etc. InDesign now cannot find the Links folder sitting right next to the layout file without direct intervention.
It appears the latest version of InDesign makes all linked files paths "absolute" and is unable to recover or even automatically seek the Links folder. This is the first version of InDesign to have this error (I've used ID since version 1.0).
This problem is particularly sinister when utilizing any kind of cloud syncing service (though I suspect CC storage wouldn't be affected) such as Dropbox. Even when a file is fully packaged, if I use my laptop rather than the original workstation to open the fully packaged and synced file, InDesign reports all linked files as missing. I must then relink the files. While having packaged things previously means I only need relink one and the others will be "found," this only works most of the time. I've had InDesign freeze more than once when trying to relink several hundred files for a full magazine layout. And when one is trying to make an update to a layout error for a magazine that is at the printers, waiting 30 minutes because InDesign has gotten dumber isn't an acceptable workflow.
Any program/file that cannot locate its own packaged Links folder that's stored within the same package folder has a serious problem. Whether this is a bug, a purposeful change to drive people to pay more for CC storage, or some other issue, it needs to be fixed.
It is becoming a serious enough problem that we are considering a full test of Affinity for our next issue. We've already had more than one nightmare with Adobe Font activation to the point that it is now wholly banned across the organization. Add the increasing challenges with InCopy rendering and now this repeated broken-links issue and it's got the strong appearance of product neglect (while everyone coos over marginally useful AI tools).
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